By Max Weber.
A slew of Australian beers took home gongs at the 2013 edition of the International Beer Challenge; the seventeenth year the prestigious competition has run.
Despite going up against entries from 30 different countries, Australian beers excelled to take home seven of the 38 Gold medals, with Manly’s 4 Pines and Melbourne’s Hawthorn Brewing winning plaudits for their Pale Ale and IPA respectively. Sydney’s Redoak Brewery, meanwhile, secured Gold for three separate ales – their Bitter, St Nicholas and Old Ale varieties – as well as for their Special Reserve in the Specialty category and the Weizen Doppel Bock in the Wheat Beers category.
Redoak also managed five Silver medals and two Bronzes across six of the seven contested categories; lLgers, Fruit Beers and Stouts as well as Wheat, Specialty and Ale, for a total of 13 medals.
In the Design & Package competition, Australian packaging designer Matt Burns – and the designer of Beer & Brewer’s new book – won a Bronze medal for his work on Scotland’s Fyne Ales’ Sublime Stout bottle.
On the other side of the ditch, McCashin’s Stoke range took home two Golds – for their Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout and Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale – as well as two Silvers and four Bronze medals in the Ale and Lager categories, and a Silver medal for packaging.
The IBC, which is judged by a panel of British and European publicans, brewers and retailers, awarded 89 silver medals and 155 bronze in addition to 38 gold.
Local Medal Winners
Ales
4 Pines Pale Ale – Gold
Hawthorn Brewing India Pale Ale – Gold
Redoak St Nicholas – Gold
Redoak Bitter – Gold
Redoak Old Ale – Gold
McCashin’s Stoke Bomber KPA – Silver
McCashin’s Stoke Dark – Silver
Redoak IPA – Silver
Redoak Saison – Silver
McCashin’s Stoke Amber – Bronze
Specialty
McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale – Gold
Redoak Special Reserve – Gold
Redoak Chateau Sour – Silver
Wheat Beers
Redoak Weizen Doppel Bock – Gold
Redoak All Day Breakfast – Silver
Lagers
Redoak Doppel Schwartz – Silver
McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Biscuit Lager – Bronze
McCashin’s Stoke Lager – Bronze
McCashin’s Stoke Pilsner – Bronze
Fruit Beers
Redoak Blackberry Wheat Beer – Bronze
Redoak Framboise Lambic – Bronze
Stouts and Porters
McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout – Gold
Redoak Baltic Porter – Bronze
Design and Package – Established
Fyne Sublime Stout (Matt Burns) – Bronze
Design and Package – New
McCashins Stoke Pilsner – Silver